Most likely a semantic difference used to explain to those of us who cannot swallow the notion of a deterministic God who doles out fate to helpless humans. Hi, I created you and I chose to make you make certain choices, thus condemning you to hell for eternity because you did not exercise the "free will" that I didn't give you to make the choice to love ME...or else. Hmmm, yeah. I'm sorry, but Calvinism was the reason I almost left Christianity entirely. I cannot by any stretch of the imagination find the God created in this worldview to be worthy of anything but revulsion and fear.

Sorry to go off topic.

Life....

__________________"I can't change the world, but I can change the world in me." - Bono

Thus far, life has been figuring out how to deal with what's been given to you and trying to manage a way to get what you want.

And then there was (is still for me) a period of like reasonsing and moral judgement where I've decided the kind of person I want to be, what I want to do, who I am.

ANd then love came along somewhere along the way, and well...... I don't know what to say about that. I think finding a real true love is a great and worthy cause- it;s not everything,
(sorry, it's goiong through my head nonstop)
but it is something........

You say I'm a fool, you say I'm nothing....... but if I'm a fool for you, oh, that's something...

I think a big part of life is figuring out what you want to do with it. I sort of believe that everything cancels out no matter what- if you believe in predestination, then act as you choose. If you don't want to be a sinner, then follow that path. If you belive nothing matters at all, well, what does that change?

It's all up to you and how you want to live.

Fate is something I don't understand, though, because it sort of has screwed me over... (don't mean to vent or whatever, but just this little bit). It's bad enough not to have something, but to have it and then loose it in a way where you can't do anything about it, that really sucks. Stability is something that I would have liked more of in my life.

but I'm young, and I guess it's made me harder, or perhaps more fragile, who knows? But it's weird, because I know a lot of people in my situation turn out to sort of waste their life.

But I don't want to do that.

Really, if I could be like Bono and go around the wolrd helping people, that would be awesome!

And my other "fantasy" would be to go on some epic adventure, and do good that way. Hah

But oh well....
really though, it's all how you want to perceive it all.
I think, in the end, it's your choice to be happy or sad.

You can get angry and wish someone would hurt the way they have hurt you. I think that might be a natural human reaction, as wrong as it might be. Sometimes it's just wishing they could feel the way you do so that they might have some empathy - especially when someone won't admit what they have done, own up to it, and apologize. I think doing that is very "manly"

Originally posted by MrsSpringsteen Is it wrong to wish for karma? I guess it is, but sometimes I do it.

You can get angry and wish someone would hurt the way they have hurt you. I think that might be a natural human reaction, as wrong as it might be. Sometimes it's just wishing they could feel the way you do so that they might have some empathy - especially when someone won't admit what they have done, own up to it, and apologize. I think doing that is very "manly"

I think you reap what you sow. But don't leave it up to me to make sure it happens. Revenge creates a cycle, that person wil in turn try and hurt you again more severely this time.

I took martial arts for 12 years or so of my life. The very first thing I learned is that if someone approaches you and wants to fight or whatever, if you can get out it then do so. If you can't then I'll teach what you need to know. This along with my personal faith will not allow me to act out of revenge to anyone. It's useless. I think society may call me weak because of that, but oh well.